April 17, 2007

England produced their best performance of the tournament so far in running in five tries in their 31-13 victory over Argentina in the IRB Under-19 World Championship.

Now the challenge is for Nigel Redman’s side is to stay focused and finish with four wins out of five to claim fifth place overall against Samoa or France on Saturday.

Saracens wing Noah Cato scored twice in the opening 15 minutes with Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors), David Smith (Northampton Saints) and Andy Saull (Saracens) also touching down and Alex Goode (Saracens) adding three conversions.

Apart from a shaky spell in the third quarter England had too much movement and ambition for the Pumas to contain as they bounced back from last week’s 34-13 defeat at the hands of tournament favourites New Zealand.

"It was a bit of a performance sandwich with good bits at either end - we didn't like the filling but we loved the bread," said Redman, whose side had beaten Argentina 17-15 in the group stages.

"We played some of our best rugby of the season in the first 20 minutes in scoring three tries before Argentina had touched the ball. Then we just lost our way for a bit.

"It's the sign of a good side that we were able to get back into the game after a difficult spell when we were disrupted through injuries and scored two god tries. It's a brutal tournament in that respect but it was great the way our lads recovered.

"It's always difficult when you play the same team twice, but on the positive side in the first 20 minutes we emulated what we did in the French game. We got all 15 players involved and when it worked it was terrific.

"It's important now that we stay focused for the final game. There will be lots of distractions but we've got to stay involved.

"If we can win that game, by any standards we'll have had a productive season. We'll have won six out of seven games and lost once to the best team here in New Zealand. Then we'll be able to look at ourselves and say we've given it a pretty good shot."

Cato’s powerful running and ability to break tackles brought him his first two tries of the season in England colours and he leaped to claim the cross-kick that set-up Saull’s score in the closing moments.

"It was good to get on the scoreboard for the first time," he said. "So far in this tournament the games haven't really suited my style of play but it was great to be able to show what we can all do."

Captain Hugo Ellis (London Wasps) was starting his fourth game in 13 days but led from the front to keep his side focused on the job in hand.

"It was always going to be difficult playing the same side again and there was a danger of being complacent but we stayed focused after the New Zealand game," he said.

"We've played four games against Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand and they're all big physical sides, but we've done well so far and I'm sure I'll go back to London having learned a lot."

ends